Rosemarie Faust

Sept. 12, 1927- April 6, 2017

Rosemarie Faust was born in Lübeck, Germany in 1927. When she was 3, her mother and two siblings crossed the Atlantic on a boat full of immigrants bound for Ellis Island, a voyage that forever changed their lives. Growing up in the Bronx, she gained a scrappy approach to life, a love of joking around, a sharp wit of zingers, and a blunt, to-the-point way of expressing herself. She used to say, “What do you expect, I grew up in New York!” Her exuberance made people laugh and have fun.

After high school, she started working as a secretary, met a handsome neighbor, George Faust, and married him. Soon after they started a family and had two kids. Three years later they moved west to Tucson, Arizona where they lived until 1969. Now with four youngsters, she was busy raising them and running a household. She used to bake some of the best cookies and cakes her kids just loved.

That summer of 1969, the family moved to Anchorage. She fell in love with Alaska. Fishing became her favorite activity. She and her husband George took the family fishing every chance they got. She enjoyed being outside, enjoying nature, taking short hikes, and gold panning. She also was an expert knitter and seamstress who turned out beautiful sweaters and hats and made jackets, pants and dresses. Some favorite activities included reading, Scrabble, and crossword puzzles.

As her kids got older, Rose went to work, first in the banking industry working her way up in the mortgage loan department. For a few years, the family and two youngest kids left Alaska and lived in California and Hawaii before returning to her beloved Alaska.

In 1989, her husband, George Sr., died. She worked at a fabric store for a while and eventually ended up working for the National Park Service in their new Public Lands Visitor Center in downtown Anchorage. This was a job she loved. She enjoyed telling visitors about her Alaska and all the wonderful places to visit. For a people person, this was a perfect fit. And her ability to understand German was helpful with all the German tourists.

In 1994 she moved to Homer, where she lived for most of the rest of her life. She took on many volunteer positions, working at the Pratt Museum, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, absentee voting and precinct captain, Public Health, board member for the Homer Senior Center, and teaching safe driver classes for AARP. Her wide volunteer activity helped her make friends throughout the community.

Rose passed away, April 6, 2017. She is survived by her four children, George, Ray, and Don Faust, all of Anchorage, and daughter, Nina Faust of Homer. Her remaining siblings are Charlotte Phillips of New York and Marianne Murr of New Jersey. She also leaves behind her grandsons, Curtis Faust, Robert Faust, his wife Heather, and great grandkids, Abigail Rose, Sidney, Jackson Faust of Anchorage, and Nathan Faust of Seattle. The family will have a private service to spread her ashes in her beloved Kachemak Bay.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in her name to the Homer Senior Center’s campaign to raise money to build a dementia/Alzheimer’s wing in Homer (Homer Senior Citizens Center Inc., 3935 Svedlund St., Homer, AK 99603). The family extends its appreciation to the staffs of the Homer Senior Center’s Terrace and South Peninsula Hospital’s Long Term Care for their compassionate, kind, and attentive care.

Arrangements made by Homer Funeral Home &Cremation Services. Please sign or visit her online guestbook at AlaskanFuneral.com.